Vol. IV. No. 77. 



THE AGEICULTURAL NEWS. 



87 



BOTANIC STATIONS. 



Dominica. 



As showing the superiority of budded over seedling 

 citrus trees it may be mentioned that at the Dominica 

 Botanic Station in 1899 a number of sour orange stocl<s were 

 budded into the triumph grape fruit. Five of these were 

 planted in the gardens as specimen trees and all were in 

 bearing in three years. This season the best tree gave 

 a crop of ;>00 fine grape fruits, and another gave over 200. 

 A seedling grape fruit would not ha\e connnenced to bear in 

 this time, and the quality of the fruit would be uncertain. 



The number of budded plants on order at the Botanic 

 Station, Dominica, is over 4,000. These, at 6rf. per plant, 

 represent a value of over £100. 



St. Kitt's. 



Etibrts are being made, and so far with some success, to 

 establish a number of rockeries in the Botanic Station at 

 St. Kitt's with succulent plants. The plants chiefly used 

 for this purpose are 'Turk's Cap' (A/clocactus coinmunix), 

 Aloe vuhjnrU, and others obtained from the hillsides in some 

 of the drier parts of the island. 



The Agricultural Superintendent (Mr. Shepherd) would 

 be glad to receive succulent plants other than those 

 mentioned above from the other Botanic Stations. He would 

 exchange with ' Turk's Cap ' and other St. Kitt's i)lants. 



A number of plants of Saccharirm ciliarf, raised from 

 seed received tlirougli the Imperial Department of Agri- 

 culture from India in May last, are growing at the Botanic 

 Station, St. Kitt's. These plants, which are now arrowing, 

 appear to withstand drought well, and trials are being made 

 to test their usefulness for fodder purposes. This syecies may 

 also be suitable for forming ornamental clumps on lawns, 

 similar to Pampas grass. 



St. Lucia. 



The following e.xtracts are taken from the Annual 

 Report on St. Lucia for 1903 : — 



Most of the experimental work formerly carried on at 

 the Botanic Station has been transferred to the Agricultural 

 School at Union, which was opened in 1901. The station, 

 however, still provides a pleasant place of resort for the 

 people of Castries and visitors to the colony, and its useful 

 features in a practical direction have not been entirely super- 

 seded bj' the institution at Union, as evidenced Ijy the fact 

 that during 1903 economic [ilants to a number over 10,000 

 were either sold at, exchanged, or issued free of charge from, 

 the station, as were over 2,000 decorative plants and cuttings. 



Cacao, cotton, and other experiment stations are situated 

 at Riviere Doree ; La Perle estate, Soufriere ; St. Joseph 

 estate, Dennery ; Bellair estate, Roseau ; and Entrepot 

 estate, Castries. The cultivation consists of cotton, limes, 

 pine-apples, etc., on the first-named plot, and of cacao on the 

 remainder. 



The Agricultural Instructor reports that the cultural 

 and manurial methods emiiloyed in these plots are being 

 largely followed by both large and small proprietors, with 

 increasingly satisfactory results, and while three years ago 

 only one or two planters ventured to disturb their cacao roots 

 with a fork, now thorough and deep tilth has become 

 a recognized operation ; while artificial manures are known, 

 used, and thoroughly appreciated, and pruning and draining 

 are constantly practised, not in the former ignorant fashion, 

 but on intelligent lines. 



HOW TO GROW CANNAS. 



Mr. John Belling, B.Sc, Agricultural and Science 

 Master at St. Kitt's, has forwarded the following notes 

 on the growing of caunas: — 



The Crozy cannas and the new large-flowered cannas 

 lately obtained by crossing the American C. Jlaccida with the 

 dwarf Crozy cannas are perhaps the most popular plants in 

 the United States for ornamental purposes. The canna is 

 quite at home in the West Indies, several members of the 

 genus being native. Here it grows right on throughout 

 the year, and we are saved the trouble of preserving pieces of 

 the rhizome during the winter. Yet comparatively few 

 gardens have a good display of this flower. Canna ' roots ' 

 or rhizomes may be obtained from the American florists at 

 from 10c. to 1.5c. for choice varieties, and travel very well 

 if sufficient air is allowed in the package to keep off mould. 

 The best time to get them is November. Good varieties are : 

 (Bed) Duke of Marlboro, President McKinley, Pennsyl- 

 vania, Black Prince ; (Yellowish red) America ; (Pink) 

 ilartha Wa.shington ; (Red or striped) Governor Roosevelt ; 

 (Red and Yellow) Mrs. Kate Grey, Alemannia, Souvenir 

 d'Antoine Crozy, Queen Charlotte ; (Yellow) Buttercup ; 

 (White) Alsace, Mont Blanc. 



When the parcel is received the pieces should be well 

 washed, and rotten portions cut out, to remove mould, and 

 planted in sandy soil in boxes or pots. The canna is 

 a surface feeder and requires abundance of food, so that 

 plenty of pen-manure, wood-ashes, or other manures should 

 be worked into the top soil of the bed where the cannas are 

 to grow. As they flower best in a sunny place, a thick 

 mulch of haves, old megass, or pen-manure should be kept 

 upon the surface. Shelter from the wind is imperative for 

 good blossoms. When the pieces of rhizome have grown 

 leaves about 6 inches high, they should be set out leaving 

 a depression around each (like a cane-hole) to hold water, if 

 the soil is porous. Plenty of water should be supplied, in 

 fact, some of them will grow as semi-acjuatics in the wet soil 

 at the edge of a pond. 



When a spray has finished flowering it should be cut 

 off so that tlie plant may not waste its nutrient sap in 

 forming seed-vessels and seeds. Also, when a stem has 

 opened all its blossoms it .should be cut out with all its 

 leaves. This lets in light to the other steni.s, removes rusty 

 leaves (a source of infection), and helps to keep down cater- 

 pillars. If the canna worm attacks the plant, as in St. Kitt's, 

 the white eggs should be picked from the young plants every 

 other day till they are large and the caterpillars removed 

 regularly from the older plants. The moths themselves can 

 be caught while egg-laying. 



About Christmas the cannas should be dug up, the 

 stems removed, and the mass of rhizomes divided. The bed 

 should be re-manured and re-iilanted. A spider frequents the 

 plants here and feeds on the small caterpillars so that it 

 should not be destroyed. 



If anyone in the West Indies were desirous of following 

 the example of the tuberose growers of the S. E. States, 

 or the lily growers of Bermuda, he would find the canna 

 a most promising plant. Roots obtained from the States 

 in May gave each thirty or forty times as many plants at 

 Christmas. If choice varieties were planted, fresh roots 

 could be sent to New York in April and would be far 

 superior to those which had been stored for five months 

 and are wholly or in part dry or rotten. 



An account of the canna worm, to which Mr. Bell- 

 ing refers will be found on p. 74 of this volume of the 

 Agricidtiiral News. 



